Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Thanks so much to those who passed on positive feedback after my little video address. It means a lot, and you're the reason I keep doing this.

While things are a bit quiet on the national front, I thought I'd update you once more on how our Stateside competitors are going.

Melanie Jones and Olivia Vivian at Oregon State:

Mel is relishing competing all-around for the first time since starting at OSU. One of her most recent flooor routines scored a 9.950, with a 10 from one judge, earning her a Pac-12 conference Special Performance of the Week honour. Watch Mel's lovely routine in the video below.

Olivia is still going great guns on bars and entertaining the crowd on beam and on floor. She was very lucky and proud to have her parents travel to Corvallis for the first time last weekend, to see her compete at the annual Pink Out competition that raises funds for breast cancer. Oregon State tied for first with UCLA on the night. Watch Olivia talk about the experience below. She has also admitted that if she had to cook her teammates dinner... she'd give them Vegemite toast!

Shona Morgan at Stanford:

Shona is all class on beam, floor and bars. Unfortunately Oregon State topped Stanford at a meet over the Australia Day weekend, but Stanford were best in show at their most recent competition against Bridgeport and Brown Universities (home of Alicia Sacramone). Shona won beam with a 9.925, a personal best!

Monique Blount at George Washington:

Monique's team does not come with the high-profile winning streaks of the above schools, but their spirit is just as big. She continues to shine on beam and on floor although, as far as scarce coverage tells me, is yet to see a first-place finish on either. She is consistently singled out as a strong performer in competition reviews and I hope to see more of her smiling face on the medal podium!